JPMorgan finds the world’s wealthiest families follow these 7 key habits for success

(SeaPRwire) –   If you’ve ever dreamed of one day joining the ranks of the world’s billionaires, the best starting point might not be business school—it could be your neighborhood book club.

Per a JPMorgan report surveying over 100 billionaires with a combined net worth of more than $500 billion, reading is the habit most often linked to the success of some of the world’s wealthiest families.

The wealth management firm also identified exercise, consistency, and waking up early as key factors for long-term success. Yet across all interviews, one overarching theme stood out: an intense level of intentionality around how one uses their time.

“Time is the currency of life,” one anonymous billionaire family leader wrote in the report. “It is not money. Just as you carefully consider how you spend a single dollar, you ought to think just as carefully about how you use a single hour.”

Why billionaires still read in the age of AI

In an era driven by technology, where tools such as ChatGPT can summarize hundreds of pages in mere seconds, sitting down to read a full book might seem inefficient. But many of the world’s top business leaders have long argued the opposite: deep reading remains one of the quickest ways to build lasting, robust knowledge.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has cited reading as the foundation of his learning routine. At one stage, Gates shared that he read roughly 50 books each year to keep his mind sharp.

“It’s one of my primary ways of learning, and has been since I was a child,” Gates told The New York Times in 2016. “These days, I also get to travel to interesting locations, meet with scientists, and watch countless online lectures. But reading remains my main method for both learning new information and testing my own comprehension.”

The best book he’d read up to that point, Gates noted, was *Business Adventures* by John Brooks—the very first book Warren Buffett recommended to him following their initial meeting.

Buffett, for his part, is also an enthusiastic reader.

“I just read, read, and read some more,” Buffett said when asked how he stays informed about global events. “I typically read five to six hours each day. I don’t read as quickly as I did when I was younger, but I still go through five daily newspapers, a good number of magazines, 10-K filings, annual reports, and a wide range of other materials.”

His advice for aspiring business leaders is bold: read 500 pages every single day.

“That’s how knowledge accumulates—it grows just like compound interest. Every single one of you can do this, but I can guarantee that very few of you will follow through.”

The 7 habits JPMorgan says drive long-term wealth

1. Regular reading
2. Consistent exercise
3. Maintaining consistent routines
4. Waking up early
5. Prioritizing daily tasks
6. Setting clear, actionable goals
7. Scheduling dedicated time for deep reflection

Sourced from JPMorgan’s Principal Discussions report.

How the ultrawealthy spend their free time

While reading is identified as a key driver of long-term success, it is not the activity that most ultra-wealthy families choose to fill all their free time.

In the JPMorgan report, reading landed at the 7th spot on the list of hobbies and interests that survey participants said they felt most passionate about, falling behind outdoor activities, time spent with family and friends, and even work itself.

The top 10 hobbies or interests wealthy families are passionate about

1. Outdoor activities and nature
2. Professional work
3. Quality time with family and friends
4. Tennis
5. Winter sports
6. Golf
7. Reading
8. Gym sessions and physical workouts
9. Fishing
10. Cycling and recreational biking

This discrepancy underscores a critical difference: even though reading might not be the most popular pastime, its value means ultra-wealthy individuals treat it as a strategic practice—a trend that is likely to grow more pronounced as AI transforms how people access and consume information.

AI adoption is already common among the ultra-wealthy. Nearly 80% of survey participants said they use AI in their personal lives, while 69% reported using it for business purposes. In a world where information is more accessible than ever before, being deliberate about how you learn and how you allocate your time may be more important than ever.

JPMorgan’s own 2026 reading list, created “to inspire big-picture thinking and bold curiosity,” reflects this priority. The recommended titles include Bobbi Brown’s memoir Still Bobbi; Andrew Ross Sorkin’s account of the 1929 Wall Street crash; and Air Jordan, an exploration of Michael Jordan’s business achievements.

An initial version of this story was first published on .com on December 29, 2025.

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• The $9 trillion “sideways succession” of women inheriting wealth has officially begun—but 93% of women report they do not need the inherited funds.